That's debatable. To me declaring that the world was made in a simple way like this and just listen to the priests was reductionism of the wrong kind.
I know the kind you mean though, reducing external factors(like air), so you can isolate gravity as a force unrelated to density by finding out in a vacuum a feather and a metal ball fall with the same speed.
(As for the paper I have not yet made up my mind.)
I'm not sure why reductionism brings simplicity to anyones mind. Yes, you consider one thing at a time, but there are billions of such single things to explain. And isolating one is a challenge in its own right.
I know the kind you mean though, reducing external factors(like air), so you can isolate gravity as a force unrelated to density by finding out in a vacuum a feather and a metal ball fall with the same speed.
(As for the paper I have not yet made up my mind.)